April 30, 2008

That’s my Bush

Hmm. He can’t even follow his own rules [or at least the rules that emanate from his own power]. Your Bush is, uh, inconsistent.
Anyways, the point that his underlings were making was that ‘jihadist’ has a positive cultural connotation to exactly the people that shouldn’t be encouraged. Call Che Guevara criminal thug, and we go, “Yeah, that a$$hole.” Call him a revolutionary, and bunch of affluent NYC white kids will buy t-shirts and yell, “Viva la Revolucion!”
Call a terrorist a criminal and we all go, “Who? Me?” Call a terrorist a jihadist, and some affluent Saudi oil kid is going to stand up and yell, “Inshallah-lah-lah-lah-lah.”
You’re a weird girl some times.

Posted by: David at April 30, 2008 at 3:57 pm

I’d like to think that we can give Muslims a little more credit than that but what do I know?

You probably know more than I do.
I should probably note also that I agree with you. A rule that says, “Don’t say jihadist,” is worrying about a one in a million problem when there are tons of 1 in 2 problems to be dealt with. I was trying to offer a technical explanation.
Your weirdness is in the fights that you pick [positions that you take?]. Sometimes I think that sometimes you pick positions because you are contrary by nature, and that you like fighting uphill and winning.

Posted by: David at April 30, 2008 at 7:25 pm

Haha, just because I’m a Republican in NY (and a Dallas Cowboys fan!) doesn’t mean I like fighting uphill.
I just like badasses, and people who say what they mean. Sometimes Bush is like that. I love when he’s offscript, it’s when he’s at his best.

David,
I understand your position. However, before you can worry about PR in winning war, you need to understand your opponent. We refuse to understand our opponents’ religious ideologies.
Saudi teenagers join Al Qaeda in Iraq not because we correctly label them jihadis, but because the Wahabbist cult backed by the Saudi family is one of the most violent fundamentalist and anti-Western groups this side of the Deobandis and Qutbists/Muslim Brotherhood.
The sad fact is that a we are not facing misunderstanders of Islam, but militants whose positions are grounded not only in the more radical schools of Sunni (and in the case of Iran Shia) Islam, but also in standard Muslim belief. The Koran says what is says. The Hadiths and the life of Mohammed are a given. And this should make you uncomfortable.